PRO FOOTBALL

PRO FOOTBALL; The Draft Stresses Runners, Secondary

By TIMOTHY W. SMITH

Published: April 24, 1995

Through the first three rounds of the 1995 National Football League college draft -- the rounds that should contain the most can't-miss prospects -- the three most popular positions were offensive lineman, with 18 selected, defensive back (17) and running back (13).

So what can be surmised from this? Perhaps on a defensive level, teams are more concerned with stopping the passing game, which flourished last year with liberalized rules designed to enhance scoring. On the offensive side, teams might be trying to find ways to complement their passing games.

To find an example of this, look no farther than the Cincinnati Bengals, who boldly traded their No. 5 position and their second-round pick to Carolina for the No. 1 pick over all and selected Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter. Carter was the consensus No. 1 pick in the draft. The Bengals decided last November that they needed a running back. This was after watching Jeff Blake, their mobile, strong-armed quarterback, scramble behind a weak offensive line and still find targets downfield.

Cincinnati's thinking on Carter? How much better would Blake and the Bengals' offense be with a strong running back, even if the offensive line is still weak?

Now the concern for Carter will be whether the Bengals' offensive coordinator, Bruce Coslet, will deploy him in a rotating backfield or make him the every-down runner that he was at Penn State. When Coslet was with the Jets, he rotated Blair Thomas, the last Penn State running back to be drafted in the top 5 (No. 2 over all), and Thomas was never the same back that he was with the Nittany Lions. Thomas, who is a free agent after playing in New England and Dallas last season, said the rotating system stifled him.

But Coslet said he is not wedded to the rotating system he used with Thomas. "Not when you've got a back like Ki-Jana," Coslet said. "He's the real deal. Heck no, he's going to play a lot."

Asked how many times Carter will carry the ball, Coslet responded: "As many times as he can get it. This guy's is not an undersized back. He goes 225 pounds so he can handle it a lot. The question mark is that he averaged just 18 carries a game at Penn State last year, but that's because in six of their games they were averaging 31 points or more."

Among the surprises with the running backs was how far Rashaan Salaam, the Heisman Trophy winner, dropped. He was selected No. 21 by Chicago, which was surprised and grateful that he was around. The Heisman Trophy hasn't carried much cachet in the N.F.L. draft lately. Last year's Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Charlie Ward, wasn't even drafted. The winners immediately before that, quarterbacks Gino Torretta and Ty Detmer, were late-round picks.

One of the biggest surprises with the defensive backs was that Bobby Taylor, the rangy cornerback from Notre Dame, wasn't selected in the first round. Taylor, who was the ninth defensive back selected, went to Philadelphia in the second round (No. 50 over all). The knock against Taylor was that he had a bad attitude.

When the draft ended yesterday, Carolina appeared to have landed more highly rated prospects than its expansion counterpart, Jacksonville.

Besides Collins at quarterback, the Panthers got Tyrone Poole of Fort Valley State, considered one of the best cornerbacks in the draft, and tackle Blake Brockermeyer of Texas, whom many thought was the second-best tackle in the draft behind Tony Boselli of U.S.C., who went to the Jaguars with the No. 2 pick over all. Early in the second round, using the pick they got from Cincinnati in the Carter deal, the Panthers selected defensive end Shawn King of Northeast Louisiana, who was expected to go late in the first round.

Remember when the Cowboys were the wheelers and dealers of the draft with Jimmy Johnson at the helm? Heading into the draft this year the Cowboys needed starters at wide receiver, safety and offensive line. The Cowboys traded their first round pick (No. 28) to Tampa Bay for two second round picks and then proceeded to draft backups -- running back Sherman Williams of Alabama and tight end Kendell Watkins of Mississippi State.

Denver did not have a single pick in the first three rounds. They traded their first round choice to Atlanta, the second round selection to Minnesota and the third round pick to Philadelphia. Their first pick in the draft came in the fourth round when they selected tackle Jamie Brown of Florida A&M.